Spaceland 4 way

[cloud9 0]

Kudos to the spaceland jumpers. I only have about 185 jumps (96 of them from over 20 years ago) and I was at spaceland visiting on Wednesday. I was invited on a 4 way with Jumperpaula, John and Jesse all of whom have bunches more jumps then me and are way better flyers. Were talking these guys are going to be on the Texas record attempts.
So we start dirt diving and they say " ok we'll do a meeker, then a diamond stairstep and then a" I have to stop them and say hey sorry but I'm a hick jumper and I don't know what a meeker is. Where I jump we just say ok we'll do this, then we'll do that then we'll do this. So I expect to get thrown off the jump, but no they say no problem. So we finish dirt diving and off we go.
So the exit goes ok and we turn about 5 or 6 points and then of course I go low. Well they fly down catch me and we start again. After landing I figure well here go's I know I screwed the jump up and I'm waiting to here about it, even though for me it was a great jump! Well here comes Paula and I just know she's going to say it " Larry you are the weakest link goodbye" but no she says "Whooooooo Hoooooooo how was that?
So I'm stoked, we go inside and the guys are great about it too. In fact I get an outstanding post jump critique on how to improve but still keep it all fun.
Wow what a blast, they even ask me if I'm going to go again. Well unfortunatly I had a 3 hour drive ahead and had to get going. But I just wanted to say thanks to the Spaceland crowd for letting a low timer like me in on their jump and then making it a great learning experience and yet keeping it great fun.
So for the rest of you experienced RW flyers take a page from their book and take some low time jumpers up when you can, it means a lot.

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[Zennie 0]

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but no she says "Whooooooo Hoooooooo how was that? So I'm stoked, we go inside and the guys are great about it too. In fact I get an outstanding post jump critique on how to improve but still keep it all fun.

You got in with the right crew. Paula & Mikey are great.
There are a lot of folks like them as well. There ought to be a course in post-jump debriefing or something, because there really is a right & wrong way to go about it. The trick, when things don't go right, is to try to figure out what went wrong and offer suggestings for improvement without making the person feel bad.
I always bring this up in the context, but I think it illustrates what good critiquing is about. There was a golf coach named Harvey Penick who would never use the word "don't". He did this for two reasons. First, when you say "don't do this" it makes the person focus on the very thing you don't want them to do. Second, "don't" connotes a negative and can produce a negative frame of mind. So he always tried to phrase things in terms of a positive... "OK. I see what you're trying to do there, but now let's try doing this."
The other thing that's important in a debrief is to point out what the person did well as well. Even on the worst dives everyone did something right. If you just focus on the negatives, that leads to frustration and resentment.
Talk about what went right and figure out what we can do to improve.
"Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

[BikerBabe 0]

That's really awesome. Since I'm at a cessna DZ with lots of students, we rarely get to jump 4-way...but I love finding those folks just off student status who want to learn RW and jumping with them. I learn more that way than I do just going out and cranking points.
As for the debrief, I have adopted the Airspeed style, which is focus on the positive FIRST, then on things to improve. Zennie is right, everyone does something right on every jump. So often I go on fun RW jumps that may not go exactly as planned, and when we get on the ground, people are just beating themselves up over it, like they are the only ones EVER to go low. Skydiving is supposed to be fun, and what's fun about landing and ranting about how much you suck? No wonder the freefliers think the belly -fliers don't have as much fun.
Focus on the positive, and you'll learn so much more, and have fun doing it.

[Jumperpaula 0]

Thank you sooo much for the kind words. The skydive had a nice flow and you were really good.
Jesse did a really nice job on your debrief.
Spaceland started an RW program for students just off the AFP program. Mikie takes jumpers interested in RW and organizes 3 and 4 ways for them. I've been on a few loads with them and they are working dives for the lowtimer. Long slow dirt dives, creepers, debrief and dewalk. Rewarding and productive.
Cloud9, you didn't exactly fit into that catagory. You fly very well and most appropriate for your experience level.
It was fun having you out. Hope you decide to make that drive again soon.
As soon as you know what days you're available to help me with the Ground Crew for the Record, please let me know.
Fly Your Slot !